This is the reason people should go to concerts. This is what every musician who’s ever picked up a guitar and stepped up to a microphone dreams of. This is the kind of night that you hope will happen every time you shell out money for a ticket and enter the venue.

About 150 people turned out to the Maintenance Shop Friday night for the Mountain Goats/Why Make Clocks bill. The two acts proved to all in attendance exactly why they’re signed to national record labels and a couple of the most renowned bands in this whole state.

The members of Why Make Clocks started off the night with their chamber-pop take on alternative country. The group played a tight set culled mostly from its Rubric Records-issued debut album, “Fifteen Feet and Twenty Degrees.”

Why Make Clocks has also experienced a few shakeups and changes in its lineup recently, adding a violin to the sound and replacing its former six-string slinger with the guitarist from Des Moines rock band Squidboy.

Lead singer and songwriter Dan Hutchinson’s unique voice lent itself well to the material. The song “I Think the Answer’s No” was a particular highlight of their set.

John Darnielle, the man behind Mountain Goats, took the stage to the cheers of devoted fans and intrigued onlookers.

Darnielle was in great form as always. The man is a music machine, so his only problem tonight was picking which songs of his hundred (or so) not to play.

The set went off without hitch for most of the evening, until a sound glitch threatened to throw a wrench in the works. Many others might have let such a hindrance affect or even ruin a performance, but Darnielle made it work. Hell, the show was better for it.

Without even a second thought, he walked to the edge of the stage, sat down and continued to play, every eye and ear in the room intently attentive.

From this position, he finished out his set. As he played, audience members made their way onstage and sat down to be closer to it all.

This is why people should go to concerts. This goes beyond mere music into a real connection. That night, Darnielle truly shared an experience with his audience the way real musicians hope to. The songs are written in the hope of connecting with the listener on an intimate level, and Darnielle has succeeded at that goal time and time again — both live and on record.

Darnielle closed out the encore with his entertainingly touching song “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton.” The refrain of “Hail Satan” may sound out of place in this review, but it made perfect sense on stage — and that’s where it matters.